Morro Bay Municipal Code Ch. 16.28 Lot Line Adjustment

Application for lot line adjustment shall be in the same form as prescribed for tentative maps (see Section 16.20.010).

(Ord. No. 522, § 3, 3-12-2007)

A. The director of public services and city engineer shall have authority to review and approve a tentative lot line adjustment. Said review and approval shall be limited to a determination of whether or not the parcels resulting from the lot line adjustment will conform to local zoning, subdivision map act, and building ordinances.

B. The director of public services and city engineer shall not impose conditions or exactions on approval of a lot line adjustment except to conform to the city's zoning and building ordinances, to require the prepayment of real property taxes prior to the approval of the lot line adjustment, or to facilitate the relocation of existing utilities, infrastructure, or easements.

C. If the scale and nature of the requested lot line adjustment (e.g., the number of acres and/or parcels) would, in the opinion of the director of public services, raise questions as to consistency with the purpose and intent of the lot line adjustment in relation to the city's general plan and/or zoning code, the director of public services shall have the authority to refer the requested lot line adjustment to the planning commission.

D. Upon acceptance of all statements, guarantees, and other documents which are required in conjunction with the lot line adjustment, the director of public services may file a certificate of lot line adjustment, which shall refer to the approved lot line adjustment map, for each parcel affected by the change, and shall cause a deed to be recorded in the office of the county recorder. No record of survey shall be required for a lot line adjustment unless required by Section 8762 of the Business and Professions Code.

E. At the option of the property owner, a parcel map delineating the new parcels may be prepared instead of certificates.

F. The director's action may be appealed as provided in Chapter 16.72.

(Ord. No. 522, § 3, 3-12-2007)

A. Subject to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, the state CEQA guidelines and the city guidelines, the director of public services shall review and consider any applicable environmental documents.

B. The lot line adjustment may be approved by the director of public services if he/she finds that the proposed lot line adjustment is consistent with the general plan, and all applicable provisions of the Morro Bay Municipal Code.

C. The lot line adjustment may be denied by the director of public services or city engineer on any of the grounds provided by the California Subdivision Map Act or this title. The director of public services and city engineer shall deny approval of the lot line adjustment if he/she makes any of the following findings:

1. That the proposed lot line adjustment is inconsistent with the general plan, any applicable specific plan, or any applicable provisions of the Morro Bay Municipal Code;

2. That the site is not physically suitable for the proposed type of development;

3. That the site is not physically suitable for proposed density of development based on general plan policies;

4. That the lot line adjustment is likely to cause substantial environmental damage or substantially and unavoidably injure fish or wildlife or their habitat. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the director of public services may approve such a lot line adjustment if an environmental impact report was prepared with respect to the project and necessary findings were made pursuant to Section 21081(a), (b) and (c) of CEQA;

5. That the lot line adjustment entails significant risk of serious public health problems;

6. That the lot line adjustment will conflict with easements acquired by the public at large for access through or use of property within the proposed lot line adjustment. In this connection, the director of public services may approve a lot line adjustment if he/she finds that alternate easements for access or for use will be provided, and that these will be substantially equivalent to ones previously acquired by the public. This section shall apply only to easements of record or to easements established by judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, and no authority is granted to the director of public services to determine that the public at large has acquired easements for access through or use of property within the proposed subdivision.

(Ord. No. 522, § 3, 3-12-2007)